For the first time in 21 years, Doña Ana County updates ‘poorly interpreted’ and ‘incomplete’ policies

DOÑA ANA COUNTY, New Mexico - Doña Ana County unanimously approved 147 new policies in the sheriff's office for the first time in 21 years as the office pursues national accreditation.

"We have deputies that work for this department who are younger than the policy manual," Capt. Jon Day told ABC-7. He was trained in the policies from the outdated binder.

"It's about humans," Sheriff Kim Stewart told commissioners. "It's about people. It has to be a changing and living document."

"I saw the previously existing sheriff procedure manual," Commissioner Shannon Reynolds told ABC-7. "It was incomplete and inadequate."

Sheriff Stewart told ABC-7 that the department was operating with 47 policies from the administration of Sheriff Juan Hernandez. She said her predecessors, Sheriffs Todd Garrison and Enrique "Kiki" Vigil, did not update the policies.

"A series of emailed directives are the only things the two sheriffs did," Sheriff Kim Stewart told ABC-7 prior to the meeting. "And then, they were misinterpreted, poorly interpreted or ignored completely. These were spur of the moment, reactionary directives."

The sheriff is pursuing accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA. If auditors from the organization grant the accreditation to Doña Ana County, leaders in the county hope there will be fewer lawsuits.

To her knowledge, she said three other law enforcement agencies in the state have gained the accreditation: The Farmington Police Department, the Los Alamos Police Department and the New Mexico State Police Department.

"Accountability is very very important for any best practice of any law enforcement agency," Sheriff Stewart said.